Grizzly Bear Creek

by Nicholas Trandahl

Weary in a loft of rock,

pine, and golden leaves,

I sit next to my pack.

Yellow blessings

fall around me.

I eat smoked meats,

drink cool water,

and play my harmonica—

            rusty October songs

                                    flowing,

                        flowing,

            down Grizzly Bear Creek.

                        Slender ribbon

                        of crystal water,

                                                swarming

with sinuous trout

in the throes of spawning.

                        Red squirrels scampering—

                                                mouthfuls

                                    of dead leaves to

                                    insulate their enclaves.

            High granite crags

            tearing like primordial blades

            through a cloak of pine,

            patched with golden groves

                                    of aspen.

Hills of brittle quartz and mica,

topped with a layer

of mossy loam.

            Herbaceous autumn wind

            over the marsh—

                        cattails swaying.

                                    Snakes warming

                                    on sun-baked granite,

                                    even at harvestime.

                        A whitetail doe,

                                    unafraid

                        in golden light.

October-lit drainage—

            golden-orange artery.

                                    Aspens

                                    in the pines.

Nicholas Trandahl is a U.S. Army veteran, poet, newspaper journalist, and outdoorsman living in Wyoming with his wife and three daughters. He was the recipient of the 2019 Wyoming Writers Milestone Award and has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. He has published four collections of poetry and has appeared in various anthologies and literary journals.